Glimpse
by celohei
Summary: In his fight against Tobi, 22yo Naruto uses the Hiraishin. He hadn't counted on his huge amount of chakra having that consequence. At his desk, Minato felt a pull: one of his Hiraishin seals had been activated and not by him. (M for violence)
1. Chapter 1

_Bonjour tout le monde ! Voici ma nouvelle fic, écrite en ANGLAIS ! _

_So: Hi everyone ! _

_Ok, so this is my newest project. I decided to write it in English because I felt like it. English not being my first language, I apologise for any spelling/grammar mistakes that I have let slip in!_

_A bit about the story: you've read the summary so I won't repeat it. The idea came to me from various sources, and Im just having a phase so I decided to try my hand at something different than what I usually do. this will be a short story: a few chapters only. Their length will vary (quite randomly I think). This is actually a really short first chapter. The following ones should be longer. (Rating M just to be on the safe side for the violence, but more like a dark T, really)_

_Well I think that's about it. Don't hesitate to review !_

_Enjoy ! _

_Celohei_

_**PS:** I reeditted this first chapter: corrected a few typos and added one or two sentences._

* * *

**Glimpse**

**Chapter 1**

Naruto's breath hitched. For the second time in his life, he couldn't feel Kakashi while in Sage mode. He had felt the jounin's life slip away, dimming even as Sakura poured healing chakra into his body. He had felt it flicker and die. Kakashi was gone. Naruto exhaled slowly. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to mourn for three seconds. Kakashi was gone. Gone like too many others. Gone like Neji, who had fallen protecting Hinata from the twisted reincarnation of his own father. Gone like Tenten, who had burnt out her last drop of chakra using Ginkaku's and Kinkaku's mystical fan to defend a group of too young Suna shinobis. Gone like Gaara, who had died defending Tsunade Baa-chan's body. Gone like dozens and hundreds of shinobis. Kakashi, his teacher, his mentor, his friend, one of those who were most important to him. This was the second time Naruto couldn't feel him. This time was worse than the first time. This time, there would be no resurrection jutsu. This time, there would be no Nagato to sacrifice his life to revive others'. This time, Kakashi was gone. Three seconds. That's all Naruto allowed himself. He couldn't afford more. _One. Two. Three_. He opened his eyes. They took in his surroundings. His war-devastated surroundings. Scorched earth, body pieces, torn rocks, melted sand. For miles and miles around the nature was disfigured. Not a tree stood, all burnt weeks ago. Despite his Sage mode, Naruto couldn't feel life around him. Only dimming lives at the periphery of his range, where the medics fought a war against death. All else was absent. Or almost. Only insects and carrion-eaters remained despite the desolation. Crows feasted on the corpses of the fallen. Too many. Too many to even burn properly. Burying them would also be impossible. The body of a shinobi was to be burnt, always should have been, and with it, all the shinobi' secrets.

The war had started years ago, when Kabuto resurrected the loved ones of the Allied Shinobi Force to destroy them, if not physically at least mentally. Many had fallen. Shino, Akamaru, Choza. Many others had turned crazy and couldn't or wouldn't fight anymore: Kiba, Shikamaru, Kurenai. Itachi and Sasuke had managed to kill the crazy medic responsible for this disaster. The brothers managed to force Kabuto to cancel his awful jutsu, but it was too late: both Uchihas lost their life in the fight. The list went on and on. Each village, each nation was mourning. Too many to count. The war had come to what many hoped would be an end. Naruto, helped by Kakashi and Gai, had hurt Tobi enough for him to withdraw and hide, healing. The fight had taken its toll. Kakashi was more broken than ever. Obito. A victim. A destroyer of life. Kakashi was never the same after that. Gai lost an arm but kept on being a shinobi. The uneasiness of incertitude went on for weeks. People slowly started healing and reconstructing their self. Small groups would go back to the villages and spend time with their families. Never for too long. The war wasn't over. Weeks turned to months. Months turned to years. Fallen friends were mourned and chanted. Families were reunited, weeping for those who didn't come back. New friendships were born, strong and deep, forged in the tears of those who survived. Children grew up. They became genin. Genin became chuunin. Chuunin became junin. Green chuunin and junin came to the war zone to fill the depleted ranks. The veterans didn't welcome them. Never. Never again. Never would they welcome children and innocents in this war. They should be home, building their life. Yet, veterans welcomed them. Help, reinforcement, news from home. Anything to get one's mind off this hellhole. Nobody wanted to be there yet none wanted to leave. The war was not over. Heal and regroup. Years passed. Not many. Not enough to forget. Not enough to heal the mind. Troops trained. Skills and knowledge were exchanged among the Allied Force. There was no Hidden Village anymore. There was, but the war was bigger. Countless strategies were put into place and thought out.

_One. Two. Three_. Naruto opened his eyes and looked around him. In front of him, detached from the war-torn landscape, a man stood. Tobi. Obito. Kakashi's killer. Oh, irony. No. _Tobi_ was Kakashi's killer. _Obito_ had been his best friend. Naruto refused to think of the two as the same person, for Kakashi' sake. Naruto's jaw clenched. This man had reappeared after 5 years. Five years during which Naruto had trained. He was now stronger than ever. Now 22 he had lost his innocence, his optimism and faith that everyone can be good. He had lost too much to still believe that. He was ready to fight. To fight Tobi and to kill him. Rid the world of this danger. Nobody was going to assist him. It was too dangerous. Help would only hinder him. The Raikage could have helped, but Naruto refused: he would only distract him. No. For this, Naruto needed to be alone. His skills were too dangerous for others. This was precisely the reason he was the one facing Tobi. The last Uchiha had had time to heal and become stronger too.

_One. Two. Three_. Naruto opened his eyes and stopped mourning his loss. Now was not the time. Now was the time to fight. In the stillness of the destroyed nature, he moved.

* * *

There were no taunts, no mockery, no exchange of words at all. Both fighters knew why they were there: one was there to fight, subdue and capture; the other to fight and kill. The fight would be fast. Speed was everything. Speed was the key.

A few sensors were standing at the edge of the devastated plain. They stood far enough not to be in danger – Naruto had insisted on that – but close enough that they could feel that the fight was far above their level, far above anyone's level. They could feel the insane amount of chakra in the air. It wasn't that the attacks were particularly powerful but there were so many of them in so short an amount of time that the surrounding nature couldn't absorb all the remaining chakra in the air, which only exacerbated the unease and sick feeling already triggered by the chaotic landscape. The different pressure caused the sky above the battle zone to darken in a chakra- and electricity-saturated storm. Despite witnessing it all, some sensors shared one thought: _could you be anymore cliché?_

Naruto's body moved by instinct as Tobi's hand flew by his torso, missing him by a hair. Both shinobi backed away, once again facing each other. Their breath was even. Tobi tilted his head. Naruto's eyes narrowed.

"-Looks like you trained."

Naruto didn't answer. He didn't need to. He had nothing to answer anyway. He had trained. Tobi had known it and Naruto knew that; there was no point in voicing it. The fight was a hard one, but not one Naruto planned to lose. He had matched his enemy's movements perfectly until now and without difficulty. But Naruto wasn't naïve. Not anymore. He knew that they hadn't reached the serious part of their confrontation yet. He was fast, but Tobi was too. Rather, it wasn't so much that Tobi was _fast_ but that he could manipulate time and space to his advantage. Naruto couldn't. So Naruto had become fast, managing to reach the only speed that beat the Sharingan: that of his father. Ironically, it was only a matter of time before he would need it.

The opposing shinobis resumed fighting. This time, they were serious. This time, they had to go all in. They moved fast, faster, and faster still. Naruto focused. And disappeared in a flash.


	2. Chapter 2

_All right! So here's the second chapter! It's longer than the first one, I think. They will become longer as the story develops. But they won't be too long either as this is, after all, a "short" story._

_I forgot to tell you in Chapter 1 that I am not up-to-date with the manga at all ! So my story doesn't really follow the manga. I gathered a few things here and there that might appear in my story but I mostly adapted what I knew and guessed to my plot, without being sure that it's what happens in the original. So don't shoot me down if this is not accurate!_

_Enjoy !_

* * *

**Chapter 2 **

Minato sat behind his desk. He had been Hokage for little over a year now and was managing well. Before him stood one of his ANBU captains, delivering his mission report. Minato tensed suddenly. His ANBU cut himself mid-sentence a fraction of a second later, sensing his leader's tension.

_What the hell?_

Minato felt a pull. The pull was somewhat familiar but did not completely match the usual feeling of the Hiraishin seal. Usually, he was the one to trigger the pull when he targeted the seal in a particular location. This was not how it felt right now. He was feeling a pull from one of his seals all right, just not the focus from within himself. He focused for a fraction of a second on the location of the activated seal. It was one outside of Konoha proper, at the limit between the forest and one of the most remote open training grounds.

"-Follow m…" He didn't have the time to finish his order to his hidden ANBU guards that he was pulled to the activated seal.

In a flash he appeared in the clearing where the seal was. He was slightly dizzy: he wasn't used to being pulled into one of his seals! However, the wave of dizziness was not what made him switch into full Hokage mode.

In the clearing, in front of him, two shinobis were fighting. Their movements were fast and precise. One was wearing a colored porcelain mask covering his whole head. His body was covered by a dark cloak that was torn in several places. The other one was tall. He had blond hair and was wearing a black and dark red outfit. Minato couldn't distinguish anything else. They disappeared in a flash as suddenly as they had appeared. Minato's eyes widened at that. He was alone in the clearing. All had lasted only a few seconds, not enough time for his ANBU to locate him and shushin to him.

* * *

"_Naruto."_

"_Yeah, I felt it too, Kurama."_

Naruto frowned. That had been weird. The Hiraishin had worked perfectly: he had teleported himself behind Obito like he planned to. But something else had happened too. He hadn't seen much beside his opponent, too focused on his fight, but he had seen glimpses of green and blue. Nothing around him was green and blue now. The earth was black or a dark brown. The sky was a heavy grey, sometimes lit by white lightning. The blue and green glimpses hadn't been the weirdest thing, though. Naruto wasn't sure, but something had affected Kurama. It had only lasted the few seconds between the two flashes of the teleportation jutsu, so he didn't have time to analyze what is was, but something had happened.

The instant they flashed back into reality for the second time Obito hesitated. It was small and swift but Naruto sensed it.

_So, whatever that was, it didn't come from him. That's good to know. He doesn't know what it was either. He would have acted on it otherwise._

Naruto decided to let it go. He couldn't afford to lose his concentration in this fight. There was too much at stake.

Naruto pushed his chakra inward and locked it to a seal. In a flash he was gone.

* * *

_There!_

This time, the pull came from a seal on his left. Minato barely had the time to brace himself before he found himself transported to the rocky field behind the Hokage Monument where he had placed a Hiraishin seal a few months ago. Again he saw the two shinobis locked into a taijutsu fight. They seemed to evade one another but never parted. They were gone in a flash.

Minato flared his chakra. A second later, his ANBU guard came into existence before him, accompanied by the captain who had been giving him his report.

"-Hokage-sama?

-Have a team secure the village. I want Hiroshi Hyuuga here yesterday. I also want our best tracker team and our two best capture teams. Something is happening and I don't like it.

-Hai!"

* * *

Naruto and his opponent reappeared in a flash in the middle of the scorched plain. The blond's eyebrows furrowed. It had happened again. It was very subtle but he was sure the rocky terrain he had been standing on only a few seconds ago was not the one he was standing on right now. He forced his face back into a blank expression: it wouldn't do to indicate to Tobi that he didn't know what was happening either.

A kunai torn through his jacket but missed his flesh by several centimeters. Naruto was happy for his intense training in taijutsu: the last few years were bearing fruits. He would never have been able to follow Tobi's movements for as long as he had been now without sustaining some serious injuries had it not been for his training. Granted, he was already in Sage mode, but it would be stupid of him not to use it against such an enemy. And he still had a few tricks up his sleeve should Sage mode be insufficient.

He felt the unbalance in the natural energy typical of Tobi's activation of his dimensions manipulation technique. A flash illuminated the area.

* * *

"-Hokage-sama!

-Yes, meet me there." Minato disappeared in a flash, transported to the seal he was first pulled into. He had been prepared this time. And his men too. They appeared in the clearing in a swirl of leaves a few seconds after him.

"-Hyuuga!

-Hai!" Hiroshi Hyuuga was observing the fighting men with the famous eyes of his clan. "Two men, one has big chakra reserves. Most of his chakra is concentrated in his eyes. The other… I can't see…

-What?!

-His whole body is bright, I can't distinguish his reserves. There's something swirling around them." Just as he finished his sentence, the two mysterious men disappeared in yet another flash.

"-Sensor!

-Sir, they seem to have disappeared.

-I can see that.

-No, sir. "Disapeared" like we can't sense them anymore. At all."

Minato was silent. There was something fishy going on. And it was messing with his seals. He didn't like this one bit. And the tidbit about totally disappearing was worrisome too. The strangers somewhat seemed to appear through his seals. Could they be teleporting themselves into Konoha through another seal of his? He was positive he had retrieved, destroyed or irremediably deactivated all the seals he had put and used outside of Konoha during the war. It had taken him quite some time to do so: there had been so many of them! He was beyond certain that all had been rendered useless one way or another. After all, it would have been too great a risk to Konoha should any seal master find a usable one. Minato was pretty sure the seal alone wouldn't be enough to break and copy his technique but it was better being safe than sorry. So, with all that in mind, Minato took a decision.

"-All right. I'm going to temporally deactivate my seals. I will only let the two in this clearing active so that they won't have any choice but to come here." _And I won't be transported left and right_, he added to himself. "Hiroshi, you know your job. Tell me all you can see. Team 21, as sensors, you do pretty much the same. Try to anticipate their moves if you can. I can sense when they activate my seal in but they don't need it to leave. Team 46 and 52, you'll pursue and capture if they so much as set a foot outside of this field. I don't want them any closer to the village. This is already way too close. If they stay longer than a few seconds and there's a lull in the fight, you go in and capture if possible. I'll be assisting in both tasks.

-Hai!" was the general response.


	3. Chapter 3

_Here you go, enjoy ! _

_BTW, the lay-out is a bit weird with all the small pieces and stuff but it's the style I think suits best this _flashy_ story ^^_

_Oh ! And the chapter is not a long one... In fact I think I'll keep that length for all the chapters._

* * *

Naruto exhaled as he felt the flesh of his arm mending back together. Tobi had been pissed at being transported left and right, it would seem. He had thrown one hell of a fire jutsu at Naruto, who barely had time to escape most of it. His right arm had been burnt, however. Fortunately, it was only a minor burn and it would be completely healed in a minute. He was once more facing the Uchiha, both men a few meters apart. Kurama took the opportunity of a lull in the fight to speak with his host.

"_-Naruto._

_-Yeah._

_-Wherever you're sending us to, I'm stronger there._

_-What?! What do you mean?_

_-I'm not sure yet but whatever you do or whatever it has triggered, I am more powerful there._

_-Hm…_" Naruto was silent for a second, an idea forming in his head. "_Is it safe?_

_-You want to fight there._

_-Why not? If we're more powerful there, why not take advantage of it? If it helps finish this son of a bitch off, it's worth giving it a shot, don't you think? So, is it safe?_

_-Hm. I see your point. You know I want his blood as much as you do, if not more. Let's flash there once more. If it's safe enough, we can take that bastard down over ther._

_-Deal."_

* * *

"-How is it going?

-Raikage-sama!" The team of sensors acknowledged the arriving commander. Isuya, a sensor from Lightning, answered the Raikage's question while the others kept on observing the fight from afar.

"-They're fast. No one seems to have the advantage for now but Naruto-sama isn't in bijuu mode yet.

-Hm. Has he used the Fourth's technique yet?

-Yes but there seems to be something else going on. It looks like they've broken the fight for now.

-For how long?

-Just now. They…

-Again!" A member of the team cut Isuya mid-sentence.

"-What's happening?" The Raikage's voice could be heard as the team of sensors felt the fighting shinobis flicker out of existence again.

* * *

Naruto and Tobi reappeared in a flash, standing once more in the apocalyptic landscape. They were fighting once more. Naruto could feel that Tobi didn't appreciate _not_ controlling time and space.

"_-Kurama?_

_-It's more or less safe._

_-How so?_

_-The area is populated and there are people waiting for us. Other than that, it's safe._

_-And your power?_

_-I'm still not sure what is it but it's safe too. I'm positive that he has nothing to do with it. I can feel my old force back. Not all of it but enough to finish this._

_-Hm. Ok. Well, I hope whoever is waiting for us won't be stupid enough to intervene. Let's do this!"_ They vanished in yet another flash.

* * *

This time Minato wasn't pulled into one of his seals. He had felt it being activated but since he was already on site he could witness the flashy appearance of the two strangers. As soon as they appeared the blond one launched himself at the other at an impressive speed. Minato had had his men take position all around the perimeter. He felt them tense but signed to them to stay put for the moment: the two opponents didn't seem interested in anything but their fight. They were locked in a fierce exchange of taijutsu. After a few blows, one of them spoke.

"-What have you done?" The voice snarled. Minato couldn't tell which one it was.

"-What? Worried?" Taunted the other.

"-You'll need more than that to defeat me, boy! Katon!"

* * *

"-Katon!"

Naruto quickly retreated, not hearing the name of the technique. Even like that he could feel the heat of the dangerous technique coming at him. As he was about to be engulfed in flames, he turned on himself, covering his body with wind chakra. He managed to deviate the fiery mass by swirling it around his body and launched it back at Tobi. The black-haired man managed to dodge it without much trouble.

* * *

"-Katon!"

Minato saw the blond man escape and redirect the attack at its caster without breaking a sweat. His movements were fast and fluid. For a brief moment it had seemed like the young man had been dancing with the flames.

Now that the opponents were separated, he could see that the one who created the fire technique had short black hair. His face was entirely hidden behind a grey mask. His dark clothes had been torn in several places and one of his sleeves was missing. The blond man was wearing regular black combat boots and pants with a deep red jacket. The right sleeve had apparently been burnt off. The left side of his jacket had been cut open, letting Minato see a bit of protective ninja mesh shirt underneath.

Minato ordered his men to stand down. He didn't know enough to risk his men's lives. After the few seconds during which he had observed the two shinobi, they resumed fighting. The combat quickly became a fierce fight of ninjutsu. The attacks were powerful and in quick succession, not even letting one die down before launching another. The masked man launched fire techniques left, right and everywhere in between. Some were big and explosive, others small and sneaky but just as destructive, using even the ashes of previous attacks. The blond man was dodging the attacks and countered them, to Minato's astonishment, with a combination of fire, wind and earth techniques. Some were defensive but most of them weren't, forcing the masked man to dodge just as much.

* * *

Naruto was getting pissed off. This battle on ninjutsu was getting them nowhere. Tobi wasn't stupid enough to let himself get caught and injured by any of his attacks, which he had expected. Also, the crazy masked man knew that he would need more than that to either render Naruto unconscious or to tire him down enough to capture him, which Naruto also knew. This exchange of ninjutsu was slowly pissing Naruto off because it was Tobi's way of stalling and studying this new environment. Fortunately they were far enough away from what Naruto thought was a village full of people for Tobi not to be able to sense them and make up a plan involving them, most likely as hostages. Unfortunately, Kurama had been right: there were people there waiting for them close enough for the psycho-maniac to involve them if given the chance. The plus side of this ninjutsu battle was that it would tire Tobi down, if only a little.

_There_. Naruto felt Tobi move toward one of the nearby observers.

"-Oh no, you don't!" In a flash, Naruto was there, blocking Tobi's path and forcing him to fall back to the center of the clearing. "This is between you and me."

* * *

"-Oh no, you don't!"

Minato's eyes widened as the blond used what seemed to be the Hiraishin to block the masked man's path. _So, he is the one controlling and using it._

"-This is between you and me."

Minato understood then that the masked man had tried to come close to Sparrow. The Hokage focused on the blond's face. His eyes widened once more: around the blond's eyes was an orange shadow he had only seen on Jiraya-sensei. _A Sage?! How?!_

"-Mah, Naruto, you want me to ignore our welcome party? How rude of you." This time, it was the masked man who had spoken. _So, the blond's name is Naruto._

"-Don't you fucking come near them, Tobi. This is between you and me. You do not involve anyone else. You've made enough people suffer like this.

-Oh. Are you talking about Kakashi? Come on, you can't be mad about this, you knew it was long overdue." Minato tensed at the mention of Kakashi's name. Had something happened on his mission? Was he dead? Had this Tobi killed him?

Tobi's taunting seemed to hit Naruto home: Minato saw him launch at the other man.

"-You have no right. You have no fucking right! Don't you dare speak his name you bastard!"

Then all happened in the blink of an eye. As Naruto was moving to strike, Tobi shifted to avoid the blow. Minato felt the other blond gathering his chakra in _that_ particular way. He took an instant decision and molded his own chakra to match the blond's and stick to him. In a flash the three men were gone.


	4. Chapter 4

Ok ! Here's the new chapter ! The next one will take longer (sorry, don't know when it'll be yet), I'm not finished writing it yet. And I'm not sure where all this is going, isn't it exciting?

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 4**

_Then all happened in the blink of an eye. As Naruto was moving to strike, Tobi shifted to avoid the blow. Minato felt the other blond gathering his chakra in _that _particular way. He took an instant decision and molded his own chakra to match the blonde's and stick to him. In a flash the three men were gone._

* * *

_Shit!_

Just as Naruto's punch sent Tobi flying off, he turned his body to face the man who had somehow managed to get close to them.

"-What do you think you're doing? I was clear, I don't want anyone intervening in this fi…" Naruto stopped himself. Was he seeing right? He recognized the man in front of him. How could he not? Minato Namikaze, Fourth Hokage, Yellow Flash… His father. His _dead_ father. He realized that the man before him _was_ his father, not some twisted reincarnation or some chakra manifestation, but the real, in the flesh Yondaime.

The man looked around him. His face was serious as he took in the devastated surroundings.

"-What happened he-?

-You can't be here." Cut Naruto's voice.

Naruto internally flinched as his remark earned him a very cold stare. In front of him was the Hokage, the Yellow Flash, not his loving father. Just as he was going to explain himself further Tobi spoke.

"-My, my. Look who's joined us. The Fourth Hokage, what an honor. Long time no see.

-Shut up, Tobi.

-Why, Naruto. No need to be so touchy. After all, you were the one to bring him out. I suspected he let a part of him inside you. Aren't you happy to see your-

-Enough! Don't say a word." Oddly enough Tobi seemed to obey him. Naruto noted that the man seemed to be enjoying this way too much for his comfort. "You," addressing Minato, "you cannot be here.

-And you cannot be in Konoha.

-That's not what I meant. You cannot be _here_. You shouldn't have followed us. This doesn't concern you." At this Tobi chuckled.

"-The moment you stepped into Konoha's territory I was involved. What do you want with Konoha?"

Naruto sighed. This whole thing was a mess. And a pretty big one at that. He had a hard time understanding what was happening. He had a few theories but nothing concrete yet. He shook himself. He could think about that later. Right now he had to defeat Tobi before he could capture him or escape once again.

"-Ok, look. I don't have time for this right now. Just know that I don't want to hurt or even involve anyone from Konoha, you included. So here's what I propose: we don't touch your men, you don't get in our hair, and we can talk when this is all over." His father seemed to think it over for a few seconds.

"-I accept." Naruto was relieved but he knew that his father would come back on his decision as soon as he thought he had enough information to take control of the situation. After all he _was_ Hokage and had to think of Konoha first.

_Great. Now there's that. At least he agreed to give us some time. Now for the fun part: bringing him back while making sure the other bastard doesn't escape and goes mess things up even further over there. Aaaand protect Konoha's men. Awesome._

A plan started to form in Naruto's head.

* * *

Minato, after agreeing to the deal, reflected on what had just happened. The young blond had started to speak with anger. He had then hesitated and stopped talking before starting to speak again with an authority that had surprised Minato. He had been vicious when addressing the other man, Tobi. Obviously there was bad blood between the two. Minato was still preoccupied: what had happened to Kakashi? He needed answers. And he needed to know how this Naruto had managed to use the Hiraishin. If he could indeed use the technique and considering the number of teleportation seals in Konoha, the blond represented a serious security threat. He needed to go back to Konoha. He needed to capture the blond and get answers. If he didn't like them, he would have to have the blond killed, for Konoha' safety. He molded his chakra but frowned when he realized he couldn't feel any of his seals. Something twisted inside him. Even while fighting Tobi – who was apparently trying to reach Minato – Naruto seemed to have felt it, for he said:

"-It won't work." Minato's frown deepened. He didn't like that at all.

Minato saw the masked man disappear in a swirl and reappear just next to him.

"-Son of a !"

A flash. Naruto was in front of him, between Tobi and himself. Blood splattered Minato. Tobi's hand was still holding the kunai embedded in Naruto's shoulder and meant for Minato's throat. Naruto's elbow was touching Minato. They were standing on grass. Tobi started to disappear again.

"-As if I'd let you." A golden hand sprouted from Naruto's belly and held the masked man, stopping his disappearance. Tobi _tssk_-ed, obviously annoyed. Naruto slowly reached for the kunai, pulling it out.

"-That hurt, you bastard."

To Minato's utter astonishment he could see the flesh of the blonde's shoulder melting back together, healing. Who was he?

"-Hokage-sama!

-Hold your position!"

The blonde – Naruto – moved slightly then disappeared with the other – Tobi – the golden hand still attached to the both of them. Minato and his men were now alone in the clearing. He asked them what they had found out but the whole thing had happened too quickly for them to find anything new. After a few minutes of silence, Naruto reappeared, alone. He immediately lifted his hands, palms up. One of the capture team surrounded him. Minato approached him and studied him with cold eyes. He could see that the young man had dropped his Sage mode. Minato's eyes widened slightly and very briefly when he saw the man's face, so similar to his own.

"-I need your help." Naruto spoke quietly but firmly. The request surprised Minato.

"-What do you want?

-First, I want your men to stand down. As I said, I'm not here to hurt them or Konoha. Quite the contrary." Minato didn't answer nor granted his request. Naruto sighed. "Look, I get it. This whole thing looks shady. And you're right." His voice was calm. "But if you love Konoha you need to listen to me," his tone became strong and authoritative, "this man is bad news. And _he_ wants to harm Konoha. More than anything. I am not about to let that happen. He's done too much. I've done too much. He needs to be stopped. I need to fight him _here_. And I will, whether you want it or not, I will." His tone was final as he said this, his eyes serious and deadly, never leaving Minato's. "It would be a pain in the ass but I could fight him and your men at the same time. However, I would really prefer not to. As I mentioned, I need your help. You can help me finish this without another unnecessary bloodbath.

-Bloodbath? What makes you think you could fight my men and come on top? I have no intention of believing you and I certainly won't stand back if you engage my men." Minato's eyes were also deadly serious. Yet, for all he said, something inside him wanted to believe this man. He didn't let it show.

"-This is troublesome. We don't have all day. My clones are holding him off but they won't last long and I need time. I'm being honest here. I need help. Like I said I could fight your men. I don't want to. And I don't want to fight you. I'm not crazy, I'm not about to engage the Yellow Flash when I can't afford to give it 100%, I happen to like being alive. But I will if you give me no choice. With or without your help I'm gonna bring that son of a bitch here and rip him to pieces." He finished his sentence in a snarl. "If your men stand in the way, I _will_ hurt them. Not kill them. But I won't have a few ANBU keep me from saving my precious people. Am I making myself clear?" The ANBU flinched. Minato almost did. His eyes narrowed. This tone. That was the tone of someone decided to do everything in his power to defend his people. This was the tone of someone used to commanding and used to being obeyed. Minato knew that tone well. It was the tone he had heard the Sandaime use during the war. It was the tone he himself used during the war and after that. And because he knew that tone, he knew the man in front of him would do exactly what he just said, whether Minato wanted him to or not. Minato closed his eyes for one second.

"-What do you need?"

* * *

"-Raikage-sama!

-Namikaze? What are you doing here?"

To the surprise of the sensors and of the Raikage, Naruto had just appeared among them. Or rather, one of his clones.

"-I need your help. The Boss is preparing something but he needs us to buy him time.

-What do you need me to do? Do you need the sensors?

-No, you", the clone turned to face the sensors, "stay here, it's too dangerous and I don't want anyone caught in the crossfire. Raikage, you were with us when Kak…" The clone hesitated and faltered. The Raikage understood then that the Copy-Nin, the ninja of one thousand jutsus, was no more. The clone continued speaking. "When we discussed Tobi's Sharingan. You know how to fight it and I need your speed. I can't use the Hiraishin when I'm a clone, only the Boss can use it. I need you as back up, we can't risk being dispelled before the Boss wants us to.

-Hm. I'm listening."

* * *

"-What do you need?

-Thank you." Naruto didn't move: Minato still hadn't motioned for his men to stand down. "I need to put up a barrier. We need to make sure he can't come closer to the village." That had Minato relaxing slightly. But only just. "I need the material to create a blood seal. A big one. I need at least four shinobi who can help maintain a barrier up but more would be good too. It would help to have a second team to relieve them. I don't know how long the fight will last." Naruto's instructions were unwavering and commanding, his voice sharp but not harsh. Minato was impressed. This man was a leader. Minato motioned to his men to stand down. "Is Jiraya in the village?

-No, why?

-I need a seal master.

-I am a seal master.

-I know." Naruto seemed to hesitate briefly. "Are you willing to work with me?

-What kind of Hokage would I be if I gave you my men but not myself?

-Good.

-Hm. Anything else?

-No, that's about all I need."

Minato nodded and sent his men to fetch all that was required, both objects and people. He then turned back to the blonde, whose face was a mask of concentration.

"-Naruto, right?

-Yes. I would spend time on niceties but we don't have time." Minato noted that he hadn't been given a family name but said nothing. "Ok, so, the barrier. This is going to be a pain in the ass. We need it to be bound by blood.

-For solidity?

-Yes. I'm going to bind it with your men's blood.

-What?

-Relax. I'm not going to bleed them dry. I'm going to use their blood for several reasons. First because for what I have in mind, the more persons it's bound to, the more grounded it will be. Second, having it bound to the men outside of it makes it impossible for him to kill them and so to destroy the barrier, which wouldn't be the case if I was the blood pillar. And third, because you wouldn't trust me otherwise."

Minato had to admit that Naruto was spot on.

"-Hm. What about the stability? More blood pillars will make it unstable.

-Yes. We'll need to put a stability matrix on it but that's not the hard part nor why I need you.

-Then why do you need me?

-I need the Hiraishin." Minato's eyes narrowed. Was this a plan to obtain the seal of the Hiraishin? Naruto seemed to read his thoughts. "No. I'm not interested in the Hiraishin per say, I don't need it, as I'm sure you've noticed. But I need a component of the seal. Tobi is a crazy bastard but a damn good one and a dangerous one. The bastard can jump dimensions. I need the barrier to keep him in. Like really _in_. It would be pointless to have him out of the barrier by simply jumping into another dimension and then back here. The Hiraishin allows you to move trough space. I want to reverse that component to block him and maintaining him in space, here.

-Why do you need me for that? You seem to be using the Hiraishin just fine, which we will definitely talk about, by the way.

-Ah, I was kind of expecting that. Yes, I can use the Hiraishin. But I'm merely using it. You created it. Well, the Nidaime did, but he's not here so you are the one person who knows best how it works. More importantly, you know the seal in and out I assume so if we don't want this to explode in our faces, which I know I don't, we need your knowledge. Mine is incomplete."

Minato didn't say anything but studied Naruto intently. This man just admitted to using the Hiraishin. That alone would grant him a single trip to the interrogation room. Yet, he seemed completely unfazed by that. A masked shinobi brought them the calligraphy material necessary for sealing. Naruto immediately sat down on the ground and open a blank scroll, already making calculations about the seal.

"-How long before the pillars are here?

-They're here." Naruto raised his head. Twelve men were before him, some of them in ANBU uniform. "Twelve. Good. What's your time limit on a level 4 contingency?" After receiving twelve answers, he dispatched them and went back to his calculations. Apparently he was going to create the blood pillars part as well as the stability matrix. Minato plopped down in front of him and started to work on the reversal of the space component of the Hiraishin.

"-How long do we have?

-Not long. My clones are good and I have help but they won't be able to hold him off for long. Especially once he realizes I'm not there."After some time and a few pointed questions to those who would be the blood pillars, Naruto asked him, "Do you want in?

-Hm?

-Do you want to be in? I'm not sure I fully trust you but I would understand if you wanted to be inside. Once the barrier's up, there will be no going in or out.

-What would you prefer?

-Well, fighting with or against the Yellow Flash would be awesome but honestly, I would prefer you out. I don't want to risk him using you against me. And I don't want to have to worry about someone else. Plus I'm not sure your men would appreciate you being trapped with two unknown inside a barrier.

-Hm. Why did you really need Jiraya? You knew I was a seal master so why ask for him?

-Nothing escapes you, uh? Well, I guess I should have seen that coming. You _are_ the Yondaime after all. I would have liked to have Jiraya power up the barrier. His Sage mode would have helped greatly.

-Wouldn't twelve blood pillars be enough?

-They will be strong all right but no. I'm trying to build in another failsafe but…" Naruto lifted his eyes from his calculations. Minato felt it and did the same. Naruto's gaze was serious. "I'm not going to lie to you: there is a risk of the barrier shattering if I touch it for too long.

-Why?

-Let's just say that my chakra is special." He closed his eyes for a few seconds. "We need to hurry. One of my clones got dispersed." They both worked some more. When both had finished their calculations, they mixed both parts of the seal, Naruto adding a few strokes and tweaking others here and there. Minato watched him, interested. He was good with seals, really good. But the man took into account aspects he didn't even considered before he saw the other blonde incorporate them into the seal. He frowned. After a few more minutes and a curse when another of his clones got dispersed, Naruto called those who would be the blood pillars. He had them put one hand on the scroll the seal was drawn on and had Minato activate it. Swirls of ink spread out onto the shinobi's arms and hands.

"-All right. Four of you will put the barrier up. The second team will stay with them so that they can replace them easily should anything happen. The third team, stand by. I'm going to leave and retrieve Tobi. You have to put the barrier up as soon as we're back. Do not miss, am I clear?" After glancing briefly at Minato, who nodded, the twelve shinobi nodded and scattered around the clearing. Naruto turned to Minato. His face was serious. "Now, this guy is a manipulator. He's good. He's really good. He'll try to trick you into fighting and releasing the barrier. Do not let him get to you. Whatever you hear, don't listen.

-So he's a liar?

-He's really good at presenting only a part of the truth." Naruto directed himself to the center of the clearing. "Do not break the barrier." And he was gone.

* * *

Naruto flashed back on the battlefield, some distance away from the fight. He could see his two last clones and the Raikage fighting against Tobi and stalling. He shook his head to try and regain some kind of concentration. What he had just lived had been surreal. For some reason he managed to land himself in the past, apparently. How this was even possible he didn't know and would probably never know. But the craziest part was seeing his father. His _father_. Alive. And pissed. Naruto was half tempted to smirk. His father, for all his loving words to his son, was a scary man to piss off. Namikaze Minato, Yondaime Hokage, was something to behold. The emotional rollercoaster of facing his father and facing the Yondaime Hokage had almost thrown him off his game. Even more so so soon after Kakashi's death. But war had made Naruto grow up. After his initial surprise and bewilderment the iron bars of control had slammed onto his emotions and snap him into commander mode. Ordering Konoha's men around hadn't been that difficult. After all, he had been doing that for quite some time, now. But negotiating with the Yondaime and working with him on the barrier had come very close to shatter Naruto' self-control. He had been seating next to his father! And talking with him! Granted, the man didn't know him and didn't trust him but still. Naruto knew his father was a good seal master, and he was proud to be following the same road; but he had still been surprise when his father had manage to modify the Hiraishin so rapidly. Naruto could use the Hiraishin almost instinctively now but he hadn't lied: he didn't know the seal. In a sense, Naruto had surpassed the Yellow Flash: he didn't _need_ the seal. He simply molded his chakra and _voilà_! Nevertheless, he had still put some seals around the battlefield to help him and gain time; he couldn't afford not to use every resource available to him.

Naruto didn't know how to feel about seeing his father. More precisely he didn't know what to make of it or what to do about it. Should he talk to him?

"_Kit…"_

"_I know, Kurama. I know. We don't have time for this."_

"_Exactly. You need to focus on Tobi. You'll be inside and the Yondaime will be outside the barrier. You can't afford to pay attention to anything else."_

"_I know. Especially since the barrier won't hold him entirely."_

"_Well at least, he won't be able to jump dimensions. He can only jump inside the barrier. Still you'll have to be careful not to get caught from behind."_

"_I know. Well, ready?"_

"_Let's do this, Kit!"_

Naruto jumped to reach the fight. The Raikage was panting and he was bleeding from several wounds.

"-Ready?" came the rough voice of the man.

"-Yes.

-Good luck."

Naruto used a kawarimi to exchange place with one of his clone just as it was reaching for Tobi. He tried to grab the man with his hand but went right through his body. As soon as his hand left Tobi's body, though, a golden hand shot from his belly and effectively touched the man. Both disappeared, leaving the Raikage alone on the battlefield, the smoke of the dispersed clones dissipating in the air.

* * *

_Isn't it all super exciting? What will happen next? Even I don't know yet! :D_


	5. Chapter 5

_Here you go, the next chapter. It's actually really short and more of a teaser/apetizer for what's coming next but I'm not finished with the next - real next - chapter so I figured this was beter than nothing ^^ So, I hope you forgive me for this false hope of a good chapter ! I'm working on it, promise!_

_On another topic, I realized that I keep forgetting to write it before posting my chapters so here I go, at last ! Thank you so much for reading and appreciating this story so much ! It started as a "Hey, what if?" in my head and I never imagined that it would have so many readers, followers and favouriters ! So thank you so much ! I will try to keep this interesting ! ;)_

_See you soon for the next - and longer - chapter !_

_- Celohei_

* * *

**Chapter 5**

Minato Namikaze liked to think of himself as someone calm, in control and not easily surprised. He had always been quiet and introspective. He spent more time observing others than making himself known. As a result, he could anticipate most things. And indeed, he was not a man easily surprised. Since his nomination as Hokage, he had honed his skills in observation and anticipation to an impressive level, even for a shinobi. Oh, he was not arrogant. He knew he still had a lot to learn and to experience. But still, he knew he was good at his job, both as a shinobi and as a Hokage. Yet, today's experience, he sure as hell did not see coming. He had been calm, in control and unsurprised from the moment he got up to that fraction of a second when he was surprised to lose control. Fortunately enough for his dignity, or at least that's how he would later decide to consider it, being pulled into the Hiraishin had been too fast for him to have the time to lose his calm. And, surprisingly enough – oh, irony – he had managed to keep it… so far. Gone was his illusion of being in control and not easily surprised. No, that was not true. He remained someone not-easily-surprised. But seriously, who wouldn't be surprised by _that_?! Sure, he managed to regain a sliver of control over the situation by mobilizing his ANBU. Great. Awesome. And so derisory. Minato Namikaze was _not_ in control. And he did not like that. He did not control his Hiraishin, he did not control today's event (which he did not anticipate), he did not control the seal, he did not control the fight. He controlled nothing.

That man did.

The tall blond man who had just reappeared within the barrier he had made from Minato's own Hiraishin. Talk about a loss of control and a bloody surprise!

Minato did what he was good at: observe, analyze and anticipate. Or at least he tried. He had the observation down. The analysis was shaky at best. The anticipating was nowhere close to being usable or even existing.

A part of Minato's brain had kept observing everything since the beginning. He knew nothing of the two individuals who had surprised him. Hum… that was not entirely true. _One_ individual had surprised him. And apparently he had surprised the other as well. So, back to the beginning. He had known nothing of the individual who had surprised him. He had learnt a few things by observing. The man was tall and blonde. His name was Naruto – a curious name. Naruto was strong. Naruto had somewhat managed to crack and use the Hiraishin. Naruto knew seals. Naruto had strange chakra. Naruto was used to leading people and being obeyed. Naruto was fighting a man named Tobi. A man who seemed to have hurt a Kakashi, who might have been someone close to Naruto. Another thing that Minato had learnt was that Naruto was pissed. Pissed at Tobi. And if this Kakashi's thing was true, he had every reason to be. Now, as he observed Naruto from outside the barrier, Minato learnt that Naruto was calm. Minato was surprised by that. Naruto had not given him the impression of someone calm. Now, however, he was. Minato observed him. His posture, his breathing. Minato realized that Naruto wasn't just calm, he was _deadly_ calm. Minato shivered. The Naruto standing inside the barrier was someone determined, someone deadly. Someone who he had seen glimpses of: a true, a beautifully lethal shinobi, a decided leader. Minato shivered once more. His body tensed.

Minato, both as a shinobi and as Hokage, hoped, truly hoped, and perhaps prayed, that what Naruto had said was true. That he meant Konoha no harm. Because Minato knew one thing in that moment. And it was something that surprised him. He was growing a serious dislike to surprises. In that moment Minato knew that he had no idea who would be the winner, should he fight Naruto. His reason told him that he would win. And maybe he could. He definitely should. As Hokage, it was his role to win that fight should it break out. But Minato did not know if he could. He did not know if he could win against Naruto in terms of power. Not because he doubted his strength nor his determination to protect his village. No. Minato did not know if he could win against Naruto because for a fraction of a second, a tiny tiny moment of time, he had felt _something_. Something deep inside him. Something deep inside him that told him that he could not, should not and would not be able to fight with Naruto, against Naruto.

And that, that tiny sliver of doubt, _that_ made Minato internally lose his calm. For the first time in his life, Minato lost control over his determination to protect the village. The realization hit him like a ton of bricks. The icy surprise of this crack in his absolute certitude that he could and would do anything for his village trickled down his back in a wave of shivering disgust at himself. Minato frowned. His frown turned into a steely expression of determination: he would not fail his village. If he had to fight for Konoha, he would do it and be victorious. For Konoha. Naruto had managed to surprise him, to take his control from him, and for a too long fraction of a second, he had managed to make him lose his calm. No more. Minato Namikaze, Yondaime Hokage, would keep Konoha safe.

As he kept observing the mysterious men, Minato refused to acknowledge that deep down, the crack was still there. That he was still unable to engage Naruto in a fight. That because of this, Naruto scared him shitless.


	6. Chapter 6

_Hello everyone! I have a few things to say so it will be a "long" AN but please, read to the end._

_First, I am really sorry for making you wait for so long. I've had much more work for school than I anticipated (I guess that's what you get in your last year of uni). As a result, I couldn't write a smuch as I wanted to. Sorry for that. So, no, this chapter isn't as long as I wanted it to be, and it is not as action-filled either. (And because I suck at writing battle scenes, I have to find tricks to write my way out of it, too)_

_Second, as I just mentioned, I have a lot of work on my plate. For this reason, I won't be able to upadte as often as I would like. (The next chapter should be up before the end of the month, though)_

_Third, I have news! I don't know if they're good or bad. I guess you, my dear readers, are the one who will decide. Know that this story is un(?)fortunately coming to an end. In addition to this one, there should be two more chapters and that will be it. It was always supposed to be rather short and I finally have the end figured out! And written! So, in a sense, this could count as a bad news, the end being near and all. But fear not ! For I have decided to make two sequels to this story. Both of them will be oneshots and are already being written (in parallel with this story). I will give more details about them at the very end of the story, in a few weeks._

_Last but not least, thank you so much for reading me and liking what you read! :)_

_Enjoy!_

_-Celohei_

* * *

**Chapter 6**

Unaware of his father' struggle and fears, Naruto was studying Tobi. He retracted his golden hand. Tobi shifted slightly, studying his new surroundings.

"-What are you planning, boy? You think you can keep me in? Haven't you learned anything in the past few years?"

Naruto debated the idea of answering him. He chose not to. He was rather pleased with the barrier. He couldn't sense the chakra of those outside of it, nor could he see them. He decided that this was a good thing: it meant that Tobi couldn't either and thus couldn't figure out that they were in the past. Naruto knew he would figure it out soon enough. But the later, the better. As soon as Tobi would figure out where – or when – they were, he knew the mad man would try to escape and use the opportunity to change things to his advantage. And who wouldn't? Naruto himself used this crazy situation to his advantage, too, after all. It only seemed logical that Tobi would do the same. The problem was that Tobi escaping into the past represented so much more risk than Naruto being there. He could do so much harm. He could kill his father, extract the Kyuubi earlier, find his past self. Naruto internally shivered at the idea of a second Tobi roaming the past. It was a recipe for disaster. World-ending disaster. He was growing tired of those. Too used to them. Hell, he was fighting against one of them even now. Tobi twitched, snapping Naruto back at attention.

"-Why don't you just give up?

-Haven't you learned anything in the past few years?

-Throwing my words back at me? How impudent.

-You know I don't give up. Stop wasting my time trying to make me.

-One can always hope. I would think that this is a notion you're quite familiar with, aren't you, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto frowned.

"-I mean, you would have to be, still fighting me and hoping to win after so long. Aren't you tired? Don't you want to rest? You know you could. All it takes is a few words and there will be peace again. You know that. Why are you still fighting against peace? Why are you denying your friends their peace? You are the only one standing between them and a life-time of peace and dreams fulfilled, a life-time of love and joy. How cruel are you to keep that from them? From your loved ones? From your friends?

-This won't work on me, Tobi. I know you. You know me, you know your speeches don't work on me." Naruto hoped that the sound didn't carry outside of the barrier. If it did, Tobi's little speech about him being in the way of peace wouldn't gain his father to his side. Tricky bastard. "Why keep going at it? Getting desperate?" Naruto was now taunting.

"-You don't even know what true despair is." At Tobi's voice, Naruto knew he had hit a nerve. "Oh but wait, you do. Isn't despair the feeling you felt not so long ago? And boy, wouldn't you know this very particular feeling. After all, it wasn't the first time you've felt it, was it?"

Naruto tensed. He knew without the shadow of a doubt that Tobi was trying to make him snap, to make him make the mistake of letting his anger take over. He knew because it was working. Bringing up Kakashi's death, oh so fresh in his memory and in his bones, was working. Naruto forced himself to relax. Kurama helped him focus on the coming fight. They would not lose, they could not lose. This was their last stand. He couldn't afford to raise to the bait. Especially so soon after his dear friend's passing. Kakashi had been a very precious person. A teacher, a mentor, a friend… A father. He owed it to him to keep his head in the game and to win. Tobi seemed to have noticed his renewed determination.

"-Found your spine, yet?"

Both men sprung forward. They fell in a taijutsu exchange both of them already knew. Their body knew the opponent's moves. The blows were viciously strong. The fight had lost a bit of its previous heat, as if the change in surrounding had put them in a new, evaluative phase. Naruto supposed it was the case in a sense. At least for Tobi. Well, he wasn't going to let Tobi get comfortable. He changed the rhythm of his taijutsu and successfully put Tobi in a defensive position. The black-haired man didn't know this taijutsu. Naruto had created it during the past few years. It was a splendid mix of taijutsu from literally dozens of shinobis from all the nations. It had been crazy difficult to put it together. He had spent years on each style thanks to his shadow clones. The final product had actually been an accident. Naruto had come up with a simple training program. Needing more knowledge and experience, he had simply decided that the best way to achieve that was to create groups of clones that he would divide and send to train with as many jounin-level shinobis as he could. He had then used his clones in a more refined way by sending small groups to specialize with highly skilled specialists. It was simple but the results were astonishing. He already knew the magic of using his shadow clone technique in training but the scale on which he had used it these past few years had been mind-blowing. After a few months at this rhythm, thus resulting in a few years-worth of training, he noticed that when fighting with his real body and a handful of clones only, his body would instinctively response in different styles at the same time, resulting in a debilitating contradiction between different muscle memories. Naruto being Naruto, he had turned it into a strength rather than a weakness. Gai-sensei and Kakashi-sensei had been of great help. According to them and the other taijutsu specialists he trained and worked with, the results were frighteningly astonishing. And utterly unpredictable, even for the Sharingan. Combined with the Frog Kumite, which used the invisible natural energy, it was unbelievably efficient. Kakashi's sharingan had been useless against this new style. Even with his knowledge of over a thousand justu, Kakashi's eye simply couldn't anticipate Naruto's movements for the simple reason that there were just too many possibilities. Kakashi had explained to him that it felt and looked blurry, trembling. He didn't know if it would work against the Rinnegan, but it was effectively blocking the sharingan. Naruto could go with that. The Rinnegan was a formidable weapon to go against. Especially in taijutsu. The 360° field of vision was almost impossible to overcome. But that was if and only if there were several bodies sharing the link. Inside the barrier, Tobi was alone. His Rinnegan would not help him now.

Despite the deadliness and unpredictability of it, the efficiency of this new style was somewhat limited by Tobi' skills and that annoying ability to send parts of his body to another dimension. Naruto had been expecting that. His father had done an outstanding job at modifying the Hiraishin for the barrier to ground Tobi into this dimension. No question there. But the dimension Tobi could send his body to was of his own making, and short of sealing or destroying his sharingan, there was no way to keep him from using it. At least, the barrier fulfilled its role and kept Tobi from jumping-teleporting. The Uchiha did not seem to have figured it out yet. Naruto knew it was only a matter of time.

* * *

Minato observed the opposing men inside the barrier. He couldn't see them clearly; it was like looking through an unpolished window or in an old mirror. He could hear voices but couldn't distinguish what was being said, just like through a wall. When they started fighting, he could see that it wasn't as intense as what it had been before Naruto came to him for help – a notion he still had trouble coming to terms with. He could see the two men move in a rehearsed choreography. There was something disturbing about how Tobi seemed to move faster than Naruto. Minato frowned. There was something nagging at the back of his mind. He had had the same feeling before, as he watched the men fight earlier. Tobi blocked Naruto's hand in _that_ particular way that made it click. A sharingan user. How could this be? Weren't the Uchihas loyal to Konoha? What did this mean? Minato was confused and was growing really tired of being in the dark. After a few blows, Naruto became completely erratic in his movements. Had Tobi used a Raiton? Gone was the grace he had displayed until now. The blond man was all frantic jabs and blows and kicks. Minato observed him more intently. The assault of movements had Tobi on the defensive. Could it be…? Yes, it was! Unbelievable! Naruto wasn't moving like a mad man. Well, he was, but it was intentional. He had mastered his own body to the point where the sharingan couldn't follow. Minato knew from personal experience that the sharingan could be beaten by speed but this was something else. Naruto wasn't faster than a minute ago. He was just completely unpredictable. It was like watching several persons fight at the same time but using the same body. How disconcerting.

Minato spared a look to his men surrounding the barrier, supporting it. They seemed all right. He looked back inside the barrier. The fight was fierce and vicious. He couldn't help but admire the level of taijutsu being displayed. Despite the barrier preventing him to see clearly what was happening inside, he could see that he was witnessing a fight between taijutsu masters. He would never be able to reach such a level in taijutsu. He was good at it, obviously, but it just wasn't his expertise. Assassination, seals, ninjutsu, yes, but not taijutsu. It was pretty rare for someone to be a seal master and a taijutsu expert. The two just didn't mix. Being a seal master implied being flexible, creative, and willing to play with and around the rules of sealing. Never against or despite them, mind you; but the more one knew about seals, the more one could play with the rules. Taijutsu specialists were also creative, but not as much as seal masters, not by a long shot. The reason was simple: one couldn't take as much liberty with taijutsu moves as with ink. Taijutsu moves were created to be a perfect balance of force, balance and speed. The human body could only make so many moves at the same time. What Naruto was doing was not anatomically impossible, but it implied a vitality and capacity to absorb and create muscle memory that should be impossible to achieve in a lifetime. The fact that he was also a seal master – and a damn good one, if Minato had to judge – was amazing and shocking. And it only added to the mystery that was Naruto. Now, Minato wasn't only surprised by Naruto' skills in seals and in taijutsu. After all, the ninja world was full of extraordinary people. What also surprised him was the fact that Naruto was an unknown. It was disturbing and a bit frightening that Minato, as a Kage and as a war veteran, had never heard of Naruto at all. For someone of his level to be completely under the radar spoke of truly amazing skills of evasion, in a larger sense, or of serious shortage of information. Both cases were worrying, in Minato's opinion.

Another thing that had Minato worried was the fact that Tobi had mentioned Kakashi a few hours before. Minato didn't like that. He trusted Kakashi' skills, but the kid had a tendency to put himself in danger. He was still very young and Obito's recent death was still eating at him. Had something happened to him? Since Minato had been appointed Hokage, Kakashi and Rin were moving around teams, completing them when needed.

Minato frowned. He couldn't tell what but something seemed to have shifted inside the barrier. It wasn't obvious, but something had flickered through. Suddenly, Naruto was thrown into the barrier's wall. The wall shivered for a brief moment. The blood pillars tensed. The wall stopped shivering but it changed slightly. Minato could now see clearly through it! Naruto was standing up, one hand on the now transparent wall supporting himself. He turned to Minato, then looked around him, to the walls. Minato saw him grin as he shook himself and turned back toward Tobi. Minato relaxed: Naruto didn't seem worried about the change of the walls. As he walked back in Tobi's direction, Minato could see that he hadn't been affected by his contact with the wall. The blonde man snickered.

"-All right, we can stop playing."

So, apparently Naruto's contact with the barrier had made it… less filtering? The young man had warned Minato that his chakra could destabilize the barrier, but was that it? If such a brief contact could have that consequence, what would a prolonged contact do? Naruto must have followed Minato's train of thoughts, for his voice reached Minato:

"-Don't worry. I was expecting this to happen sooner or later. It only settled down. It will hold better next time.

-Where did you bring us, Naruto-kun?

-That's for me to know and for you to wish you'd know, Tobi."

Without any signal, the two fighters threw themselves at each other. The rhythm of the fight had changed once more, speed now being added to the moves. Naruto was flashing left and right, always trying to hit Tobi, who seemed to be totally unaffected by the blonde's blows. After a few seconds, a blow connected and sent Tobi flying. As he stood up from the ground, he spoke.

"-Ma, ma, Naruto-kun, you _are_ done playing.

-Come on, Tobi. We've been at it since this morning. I have other things to do than keep playing with you. Like killing you, for example. And stop with the –kun, would you? You sound just like that creep snake bastard. You wouldn't want to ruin your image, now, would you?

-Well, you are a busy man, Naruto. So many people to take care of. Well, it would be that way hadn't you killed them all with your stubbornness.

-This won't work, Tobi. How many times do we have to do this?

-Until you understand, Naruto. You are the one keeping them from finding peace. How many of them had to die for your sake, hum? How many comrades? How many friends? How many? I believe this morning cost you one more, didn't it? Well, it's not like you didn't see it coming, either. After all, I have been generous enough to let him live for as long as he did after what he did.

-He didn't do anything, you hear me! You do not pull him into your twisted vision of things.

-You're quite right: he didn't do anything. He was weak and unable to protect her.

-Still with that? Get a life! Grow up! Don't project your failures onto others. This world you want to create isn't peace. It isn't life. It won't bring her back!

-Don't you want to see them again? Don't you understand that you could if only you accepted your fate?

-And what fate is that? Letting you kill me because you are unable to swallow the truth? No. Fate doesn't exist."

Minato was lost. Who were they talking about?

* * *

Naruto was quite bored with his discussion with Tobi. They've had this conversation before. Nothing was new. But it was necessary. The longer they talked, the longer his clones outside of the barrier could gather natural energy. He had sneaked them out of the clearing while creating the seal for the barrier. His father had been absorbed by the seal enough for him to send three clones out to hide and gather natural energy. They didn't need to be inside the barrier because they didn't need to physically cross it for Naruto to gain the natural energy and enter Sage mode. And so he had to endure through another of Tobi's rant. Really, that guy never changed. It was almost laughable.

"_-Kit, you cannot let him figure it out._

_-I know, Kurama._

_-The more he talks, the more he gives to your father, and the higher the chances of him be turned against you. He's not very fond of you, right now._

_-I know. And I understand his position. For him, I'm as much a threat as Tobi is. As soon as he has the opportunity, he'll try to get me. We just have to finish Tobi off before that happens._

_-And hope for the best. Your father is a worthy opponent, I will give him that. You would like fighting against him, I'm sure of it._

_-I think I would, yeah. Maybe later, when this bastard is down. How are you?_

_-Stronger. I have good and bad news for you. Which do you want first?_

_-Surprise me._

_-Good news is, like I said, I'm stronger. I think I'm resonating with my other self and our chakra is balancing itself between us two. More precisely, I have a part of my yin chakra back._

_-Ok. Bad news?_

_-Bad news is that it will throw off your chakra control for a bit because it's not the same nature as you are used to. But you should be able to gain control over it soon enough with me helping you. The other bad news is that now that you have part of my yin chakra, it might tip off your father._

_-How so?_

_-When we were fighting earlier, you only had my yang chakra. As a result, the feeling it gave off was too different from my other self's for him to connect the dots._

_-And now that I also have your yin chakra, he might make the connection with the you inside of my mother._

_-Exactly._

_-Hum. Let's hope this barrier can prevent that. How long do you think we'll need to control your yin chakra?_

_-Not long. The good thing is it will be more stable than before, which should help you with your Sage mode._

_-Good._

_-But Kit, be careful. My chakra is stronger. Try not to touch the barrier too much, it won't hold against me. And as soon as Yondaime feels my chakra, he will attack you._

_-What? Why?_

_-Some unknown fighting ninja shows up with the chakra of a beast supposedly stuck into his wife, how do you think he will react to that?_

_-Point taken. Not good. Ok, let's get this show down the road!"_

Naruto dispelled one of his clones and entered Sage mode. It was high time he put an end to Tobi's madness. The fight would be long and difficult. He knew Tobi had the First Hokage's cells implanted in his body. They had managed to destroy Edo Tensei Madara a few months ago. It had cost them Tsunade and Gaara, but it was done. This had been a huge victory. A bitter one, but huge nonetheless. Naruto knew from experience that although Tobi had the Shodai's cells, it didn't grant him control over the bijuu. Fortunately. That had been Madara's role. For whatever reason, he had been able to activate this power. Not Tobi. The sharingan remained a powerful tool of control over the bijuu but it only worked when they were free, not sealed in a jinchuuriki. But Naruto also knew that despite this, Hashirama's cells made Tobi very dangerous. He had proven that when he killed the Mizukage two years ago.

As Naruto threw himself at Tobi, he could see him weave the seals of a powerful Katon. The game was on.


End file.
